Monday, October 20, 2008

Vegan MoFo Iron Chef III: Sushi Challenge Roundup

This week's Vegan Mofo Sushi Challenge was madness. First off, my sushi was a bit of a nightmare, but to top it off, the entries kept right on rolling in--they finally stopped at twelve. There's only so much rounding up I can do before I become a tightly wound ball myself.For my contribution, I wanted to make some Halloween inspired sushi, and when I think of Halloween, I think of candy and scary unexpectedness. Since I'm already planning on making candy sushi for the 31st, I wanted to do something different and a bit twisted for this challenge. I made two norimaki rolls, the first was made with black rice, with black food color paste added for extra eeriness and then filled with tempura sweet potato. You know--to get that black n' orange Halloween thang going on. The rolls came out looking groovy, but taste wise, they were a yuck storm. In the past, I've used Wilton black food paste in frosting with no problem, but in the rice, it left a horrid tar-like flavor (not the unexpected twist I was hoping for). Also, since I'm gluten-free this month (and out of chickpea flour), my tempura coating sucked--note to all: ix nay on the rice flour and cornstarch.The second roll I made was tasty; simple white rice tinted orange and stuffed with avocado and more sweet potato--especially tasty with the ball o' turquoise wasabi and soy sauce.

Finally, you've come to the part of the roundup you've been frothing for, I made a little mosaic of all the entries for your viewing pleasure (click on the photo and it'll get big enough for eyeball investigation).My favorite thing about this roundup were the number of participants who pushed their way through sushi fear, unknown kitchen territory and comfort zones in order to play along with the other kids. Of course, I also loved the fried sushi log and ice cream sushi. What.

Please, Lord Seitan, I hope I included everyone, this was a haul to put together.

I've been following this challenge like a stalker on cheap whizz. Me being one of the frightened intimidee's that ran away bawling into a corner somewhere at the mere mention of the dreaded S word.I've been so impressed with EVERYONE!!They are all so creative. And I don't feel quite so intimidated now.